Whatsername
by The Wonderful Nobody
Summary: They grew apart during the war and fell apart seemingly forever afterwards. However, the day comes where they reunite and the world must face the consequences of this marriage of power and arrogance.
1. It's So You Won't Forget Me

Whatsername

_Chapter One: It's So You Won't Forget Me_ (The Memory Box)

He tried laughing it off, like it was just a big joke, but he could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. She had said those words, the three little words that had described how he had felt about her. But she was the one that had finally spoken them and now he was terrified. What if she changed her mind? If she had decided to dump him before, it wouldn't have been so bad. But now that she said _she loved him_ and she ended up breaking up with him. He shook his head as she grabbed his hand and said those three little words again.

She shrugged, a frown creasing her pale little forehead. "Fine, you don't have to say it back. Just promise me one thing?" She said, her head tilting to one side as it often did when she felt unsure or uneasy. But she hadn't tilted her head at all when she told him she loved him!

"What?" He said, looking down at his hand trapped beneath hers. His hands were so much different than hers were. His were large, tanned and covered in scars and calluses from the training as a SeeD candidate that he had endured for the last seven or so summers. Hers were soft, pale and smelled of the lavender soap that she so frequently used. A quick grip from her hand sent his gaze back to her face.

"Promise me that you won't forget me?" The uneasiness had slipped into her voice at the end, making it more of a question than a demand. He blushed again and turned away to hide his reddened cheeks.

"How could I forget you?" He whispered. He was afraid that she wouldn't hear him. Could he say it again? But then again, maybe he wasn't afraid that she wouldn't hear it; maybe he was afraid that she _would_ hear it. He had never cared about someone as much as he did about her. And to be honest, it had been the one thing in his life that had truly scared him. He was also afraid that somehow he would screw it all up and she would be gone out of his life as fast as she had become a part of his life.

"Seifer?" She sounded close to tears and he realized that she was misreading his silence and avoidance. He forced himself to look into her eyes, eyes that were already brimming with tears.

"How could I ever forget you?" The tears vanished and were replaced with a smile. She buried her head in the little hollow where his neck met his shoulder, and her arms wrapped around him. "Rinoa, I love you." He whispered into her raven hair. He hugged her tightly to him, afraid that if he loosened his hold on her, she would be gone.

She pulled away, the tears gone from her chocolate eyes. "I know. but I don't want there to be that chance. And I don't want to forget you either, Seifer. So let's do something." Seifer froze. One thing filled his mind. The same thing that filled most seventeen-year-old guys' minds when a girl suggests that they 'do something'. He gulped and once again felt the blood rush to his cheeks.

"Let's put together a memory box!" She squealed happily. Seifer began to breathe again after she clarified her statement. If they would do it, it wouldn't be a very enjoyable experience for him. It wasn't that he was a virgin or anything; it was the fact that he was absolutely terrified that he would do something wrong and. Well, yeah.

He shook his head at her. "A memory what?"

"A memory box!" She smiled at him but her smile faded as she realized that he couldn't be as excited as she was if he didn't know what it was. "My mom and dad did it before my mom died." She trailed off for a few seconds before going on. "They decorated a box and put everything that was important to them in it. Clips of newspaper articles about my mom singing or my dad being a general. They put little momentos in there, like the ribbon from my mom's hair the day my dad met her and the dress they put on me the day I came home from the hospital. My dad even put in there articles about my mom's car accident..." She shook her head. "But a memory box doesn't have to be sad."

Seifer shrugged at her. "So what do we put in there? I'm no general and you're no singer! And there's no damn way you're gonna be in a car accident!" He said, his eyes wide. The possibility of that seemed impossible to him but he didn't want to jinx it. He knocked on the wooden table, hoping to relieve the jinx.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. She dug into her purse and dumped a pile of pictures onto the table at which they sat. Pictures of him and Rinoa looked up at him, smiling. There were pictures of them wreaking havoc all over Deling City whenever they managed to escape from the house. Luckily for them, they had discovered her father's secret escape route from his office and managed to have several nights-on-the-town that way. There were photographs of the times they had spent with his friends Raijin and Fujin and there were photographs of them alone. He had been her first real friend, her first real friend and she wanted to keep him close to her heart all of the time, she said.

"Okay, but where's our box?" He said, now just trying to be a pain in the ass. He actually liked the idea of the memory box. Now he'd have a way for her to be near him always. She leaned over the table and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Shut up, Seifer." She said, her eyes sparkling playfully. She climbed to her feet and disappeared into the closet and emerged with a shoebox that she had already painted white and covered with their names and a couple of cut out photographs of the two of them.

"Ooh, now you're looking obsessed!" He teased. He knew that she wasn't obsessed. He cared about her as much as she cared for him. But that lingering doubt still remained in the back of his mind that somehow he'd ruin it for them both. Somehow, someway, someday.

She hit him over the head with the box. "Stop being a meanie and help me."

Two hours later they were still cutting pictures and writing comments on the back of the photos, and reminiscing over the summer's events. Outside of her bedroom window, the leaves on the trees were various shades of orange, yellow and red and every time a breeze stirred, the leaves fluttered from the trees, creating little tornadoes in the yards.

Fall was nearly here and when it began, Seifer would be back at Balamb Garden and her father would force Rinoa back to the private school in Timber. They would be unable to see each other again until spring vacation. This was their last time together.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" He groaned as he flexed his cramped hand. There were red marks on his finger and thumb from the scissors.

She picked up a picture, looked at it quietly for a moment before setting it down in front of him. It was a picture of only herself. She was standing on the beach and had been looking out over the ocean when Seifer had captured the image on film. A few seconds later, she had tackled Seifer and tried to bury him in the sand. It had been that day that they had shared their first kiss.

She smiled at him sadly. "It's so you won't forget me." She then turned and looked out the window as a particularly strong gust of wind blew the remaining leaves from the tree outside her window.


	2. I Hope You Won't Forget Me

_Chapter Two: I Hope You Won't Forget Me (Seifer's Trial)_

Seifer didn't even look up as the cell door swung open, and hit the wall with a loud bang that echoed through his small metal cell. He did blink, however, when whoever had entered switched on the light, which was nearly blinding after several months of sitting in the dim lighting of the prison cell. He rubbed his fists over his eyes, like a little kid that was ready for bed. "What the hell do you want?" Seifer growled at the intruder.

"Seifer?"

Seifer closed his eyes, his stomach sinking. He couldn't believe it. (No friggin' way.) When he opened his eyes again she was standing in front of him, her chocolate brown eyes brimming with concern and tears. He cleared his throat and forced himself to reply without breaking down. "Rinoa? What are you doing here?"

She smiled briefly. "I don't know if you forgot."

He jumped to his feet and pointed a finger in her face, furious. "I didn't forget! You are the one who jumped into that friggin' Leonhart's arms during the war and turned your back on me. I never forgot the promise we made to each other! Why do you think I loved the ideas that that witch Ultimecia fed to me? I wanted to prove myself to you!" Rinoa ran forward and wrapped her arms around Seifer's middle, resting her head on his chest.

"I'm sorry, Seifer. You never should have left my house that day, the day we made the memory box. I never should have let you go. I'm sorry that things turned out like this." She pulled away and for the first time, Seifer noticed that her belly had a little round bump to it. She smiled again, sadly, and rested her hands on it. He nodded and started pacing around the cell.

"How. How far along are you?" He asked, forcing himself to make small talk about the baby that wasn't his but was growing inside the only person he had ever loved.

"Four months." She whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. Rinoa forced herself to face him and smile. Yeah, it was sad that the relationship she had shared with Seifer had ended so abruptly but she was pregnant! And engaged to Squall! What did she have to regret? "It'll be born on your birthday." She added. Seifer nodded, before kicking the bed. He growled and sat down, holding his pained foot.

"So is that why you're here? To parade around in front of me before I go to trial to be killed? Did Squall send you? Or are you doing to get back at me for leaving? Are you showing off, saying 'Screw you, Seifer, but look who's laughing now'?" He glared up at her. "Well, it ain't gonna work. I don't care that you got what you wanted. I tried to get what I wanted but she just let me go."

She stamped her foot, her hands balled into fists by her side. "No, Seifer! I came here to stand on trial for you! I came to tell them that you were being controlled and that you didn't do any of those awful things. I came here to save you so you could be there when my baby was born!" Tears strode down her cheeks and she spun around in her fury, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't want you to die, Seifer. You're my best friend."

He chewed on his tongue, unable to speak. He wanted to pull her down into his lap and just hold her. He wanted to run his hands over her little belly and imagine that it was his baby, and that he had given her the ring on her finger. But he couldn't. As far as any else was concerned, his life was over. He had betrayed the world. He hadn't meant to. He just wanted to win her over. But now he was on trial and would most likely be sentenced to death.

He climbed to his feet and stood, with his back to her. "Thank you but I don't need your help." He mumbled. He could hear her suck in her breath as she fought the urge to cry. He could visualize her in his mind, one hand clutched around the ring dangling from her neck, the other hand resting on her bump of a belly. He could see the frown on her face, the crinkles in the corners of her eyes as she tried not to cry.

"Seifer.?" She whispered, the single step she took echoing violently in the small cell. He raised a hand and stepped closer into the corner of the cell, hanging his head. She stopped trying to pretend she wasn't crying and he cringed at the sound of her sobbing. The last time he had heard her crying, he had kissed her for one of the very first times. It had been the moment when she had first entrusted him all her doubts, fears, and hopes about the world. She told him her fragile memories of her distraught childhood, the life she suffered now, and what she envisioned the world to be.

And he had brushed away the tears and held her close and then.

He kissed her.

He forced himself to stay in his corner and resist the urge to relive that night all over again. "I don't want your help, Rinoa. I tried to help you once before and look where it got us. I don't want you to risk everything you have and deserve to try and save someone like me." He wrapped his arms tightly around himself and rested his forehead against the cold metal of the wall.

The click of her heels on the floor approached him and he closed his eyes as he realized she was right there behind him. She knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Whether you like it or not, I'm going to help you. And when it's all said and done, I hope you won't forget me." She placed a light, airy kiss on his cheek before hurrying to her feet and fleeing the cell, sobs choking her. Why did it hurt so bad? She was supposed to be happy. She was supposed to hate him like everyone else did.

xxx

The handcuffs clapped on his wrists were cold and heavy, and bit into the flesh of his wrists. But he paid no attention to them. The thick chains around his ankles did the same, but he paid no attention to them either as he sat in the chair and watched Rinoa defend him. He felt sick dread in his stomach; as a hero of the world and a sorceress, she had a lot of weight in his trial. But did he really want to live? Could he really leave this prison cell and return to the life he had before?

He doubted that he would be allowed to return to Garden. Or the Orphanage. Or anywhere for that matter. And he definitely couldn't return to Rinoa. (What do you expect me to do, Rin? I don't understand.) But if she wanted him to live, at least she was one person. Maybe there was a second chance for those like him. He could only hope.

xxx

As soon as the trial was over, Rinoa fled, without a single last look to Seifer. He sighed. They may have shared a lot in the short summer they spent together but were memories really all that worth remembering? He had suffered enough, did he really want to go on remembering everything that he had fought for, only to lose? As they unlocked the cold, biting metal, he looked at them, wondering what each and every single one of them lived for. What drove them to continue this little masquerade of life?

The doors slid open, revealing Seifer to the bright sun scorching the blazing desert. He pulled the photograph from his pocket, the one that he had swiped from the memory box. It was the picture he had loved the most. It was a picture of them together, holding hands and happy in love. He slowly shredded the photo, feeling that he was tearing his heart into little pieces.

He held out his hand, allowing the hot breeze to lift the pieces and scatter them all over the desert. He closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air, the first in so many years. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the desert, but opening his eyes to a new life in Winhill.


End file.
